Ohh Tommy Johnson

Our defence is not just the defenders. Macca runs his legs off closing down early, Palmer tracks(ed) back closing stuff down etc. When this doesn't work so well the back 3 come under more pressure. We see this with Palmer missing. I don't think we have anyone that plays the same way which shields the back line. That said, I think we lack a 'voice' at the back. None of our defensive unit options is a commanding character, I know it's noisy these days, but one of my memories form my early days at the Lane was the amount of shouting between players that went on. It seems very quiet these days in comparison. You could always hear Stubbs, Kilkline, McVay, Avromovic, Brown, McManus, Cherry, Short or Yates shouting to each other... or maybe they did in my imagination, but that was because they were big characters. Turner was a good organiser too. Someone needs to take that responsibility on, be it Slocombe or Stone or one of the CBs. We make poor decisions, especially when under pressure, so maybe one quick fix is to give one of the defensive unit that explicit responsibility - organise and manage the others and the defensive midfielders. Maybe that should be a key characteristic of any new defender we look at. It just strikes me that there is no clarity in what is expected and when. As a result our players try to play the ball at all costs even when their instinct is to get rid, resulting in sloppy passes, losing the ball in easy challenges etc. One other thing I think is missing is being able to quickly transition from attack to defence, Sometimes it seems to take a few moments to re-orientate to set up or cover the defence. We got away with it last year, but at this level, that gets punished, and, as Shrewsbury showed, at the next level it will get punished ruthlessly. Anyway I'm rambling...

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth... and an organiser / enforcer at the back (I don't mean a player who puts it about, but someone who organises and holds the rest of the defence / defending midfielders accountable for their decisions and play).

No!!! I don't think we would exist now if the land was owned by the club. Any one of several of our past owners could easily be envisaged cashing in on the land. The fact that it is leased with conditions protects the club. That said, if I were the brothers I would be very tempted as the land provides an underlying value to the club. Given the development potential of the land, it's value is only likely to increase.

Good goal and a good start. I hope he continues to grow and become the best he can. We seem to have one or two youngsters on the fringes, which given where our Academy is currently, is pretty good.

Got there in the end.. Wordle 899 5/6* ???? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????

Wow - I'm still pondering after 3 rubbish guesses.

Back to a 4 again. Wordle 898 4/6* ???????? ???????? ???????????????? ????????????????????

That would be very cold at this time of year!!

All OK apparently. No further inspections planned at the moment (I assume that caveat is in case there is a deterioration between now and kick off).

That looks like you have had a super stay. This weekend is a quiet one - my partner had round number 3 of her chemo this week, so we try to keep the following weekend nice and calm. So it will be a case of getting Christmas decorations down, maybe the tree, coffee shops in Canterbury and maybe some gentle Christmas shopping.

I sometimes think of a word that is too fancy, but often if there is a choice of 2 it's the more straight forward word... I never learn though!! Wordle 895 5/6* ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ????????????????????

Well he was right about something then.

@Burnz3r0 that's the style. I seem to recall Kevin Keegan rocked particularly tight shorts too, probably just before the one with Dalglish! Personally I like the length these days... or the early 20's!

I think part of the problem is that their charter requires them to make certain types of programme, and this is often now what most people want to watch, but what only a public broadcaster will produce, and some of it is important stuff, if niche. Going to most other forms of funding would also require them to drop this requirement and then we would lose a lot, That's why it is difficult.

Funding is an issue - but independence doesn't just mean financially independent. It works so well (and has the reputation internationally that it does, and consequently gives us a lot of soft power on the international stage) because it has traditionally shown no fear or favour to any political persuasion and most other funding models will challenge this.

I think they have done a good job in the past, and in a grown up world, governments should welcome that kind of scrutiny (and I think up until about 7 or 8 years ago they largely did even if they moaned about it). Unfortunately since the Brexit referendum was announced the grown ups largely left the room and have no sign of returning. I agree it is part, and a large part, of the decline in politics. A confident government should have no fear of an organisation such as the BBC holding them to scrutiny, and should welcome it. Funding is a whole different issue. How do you fund it without introducing a bias?

There are a fair few on another Notts forum... some even regard them as 'centrist'!!

They were good times indeed, when everything was in black and white and shorts were like bikini bottoms!

The simple answer is 'Yes it is' and a cursory look at the facts would have shown that.

This is really upsetting. Both my daughters see their opportunities curtailed whilst older people have taken advantage of opportunities only to remove them from the younger generations (and then moan endlessly about their 'wokeness'). I have less sympathy with the fishermen and farmers as it was plain as the nose on your face that what they were claiming Brexit would bring their sectors were lies. A moment to look at the way the EU worked with 3rd Countries showed that we would not be able to sell fish or produce in the EU without significant barriers. Johnson's skill was being able to sell obvious lies to people who must have, deep down, known they were lies.

Back to back 3s! I don't think I've done that before! Wordle 894 3/6* ???????? ???????? ????????????????????

The trouble with extremist governments is that they need to control the media to try and normalise the narrative. Since Brexit we have had an extremist government and as things have started to fall apart the need to control what we hear has become more important... hence GB News and the other right wing news channel that was licensed (Times News maybe?). The BBC has always tried to be neutral (and I think the fact that both right and left wingers see it as biased suggests that they do OK overall). Therefore, the government have taken control via their network of supporters and donors. It stinks, the BBC should remain independent.

That was very prophetic. I looked in on another forum and it was in meltdown!

I think Stone does go longer more often than Slocombe. Maybe he is more confident in hitting McGoldrick with a long ball than Slocombe? Our fans seem to really dislike whoever is in goal for us. It won't be long before the same people who abuse Slocombe will be doing the same with Stone. It's like the back 3 and goalkeeper have to responsible for every goal we concede and one or 2 are singled out for 'special' treatment. Slocombe is one of those, Baldwin another. It baffles me.

3 here too Wordle 893 3/6* ???? ???????????? ????????????????????